a baseball card celebration of the dodgers and the infield of my youth.

21 June 2011

boys of summer

today is the first day of summer. that's what the calendar says - here in minny it's relatively cold and definitely rainy. i sure hope the weather improves next week for the dodgers' visit. anyway, the realistic pessimist in me says that the days are going to get shorter after today, and the optimistic realist in me says that there's still plenty of baseball yet to be played. i can't help but think that it's not meaningful baseball, however, as the dodgers and twins are well back of a playoff spot at this point.

i've been focusing a lot more on the vintage part of my collection this year, due in large part to poor play of the current teams, as well as all the ownership drama going on in la. therefore, i will look to a boy of summer for inspiration, specifically this roy campanella issue that he supposedly used by the hall of fame catcher as a giveaway after his paralyzing automobile accident when someone requested his autograph (the auto is a pre-print)

Campy had a very nice, clean signature as a player. After the accident and eventually after some rehab, he was able to scribble his name. I believe at one point he may have even used a device to aid him in signing, like an autopen, however those only sign as well as the person's hand is writing and Campy had very limited movement in his arms/hands.

The Salvino statues and the Front Row autographs are good examples of the post-accident Campanella signature. There are probably numerous exemplars of both signatures on ebay now. Thankfully, I was able to obtain both kinds over my collecting days.

The article was undated as to when Campy appeared at their club. Perhaps it was early after the accident...the club has been around since 1926 after all.

At first, Campy had zero movement. Over time, he was apparently able to regain some movement in his upper body. The scribbles you see on the statues and cards are not by an attendant. His wife was known to sign for him as well. Those appear to be possibly real, but are vastly different from his real signature, not to mention that these show up on items issued after his accident. I have a 1975 program signed by her. It looks like Campy could have signed it himself, but obviously it was too neat for him to have done it at that point.

That is the same picture his wife gave away when I asked him for an autograph at Dodger stadium in 1987. My Dad had a friend who's company printed all the dodgers media guides and programs for the dodgers. We sat in section 233 Executive club level, 2 row over at the top on the mizen Mr. Campanella was setting in a wheelchair with his wife next to him. The pictures were in a type of book, his wife gave me 2. I told him it was really nice to meet you and thank you so much for the autographed picture. He nodded his head, didn't speak a word, his wife asked me if I played baseball, how old I was, what position I played and who my favorite team was. "Yes, ma'am I do play baseball, i'm 10 years old, I play center field, and my favorite team is the Dodgers." She wished me luck and smiled, when I was walking away Mr.Campanella and I made eye contact he gave me a little smile and I gave one back. That was my first time ever meeting someone famous.

let's trade

click it - you will be rewarded! for trading, not clicking.

let's trade, part 2

i collect dodgers cards, any and all cards featuring steve garvey, ron cey, dave lopes or bill russell, all topps cards of the players who were featured in the 1978 topps set as dodgers, cards featuring dodger stadium, o-pee-chee variations, cards showing memorial patches and/or armbands, and cards showing the double play turn at second base. i am also currently working on my 1971 topps set. i have a lot of cards to trade!